Keeping It Safe In The Kitchen
When I was younger, we used to always have get togethers around the holidays with friends. We lived far away from family and so our friends became our second family. We lived in Arizona at the time and my parents decided to do hamburgers. My mom went to the store and grabbed a box of hamburger patties. They were a name brand and she figured they were “safe”, when she tells the story she always laughs and says, “My first clue should have been the words ‘color will enhance with cooking’ on the outside of the box.”
Anyway, they began cooking the burgers and for whatever reason, although we are leaning towards fat content, they all caught on fire. Like, giant flames shooting over the cooking surface, flaming burgers! It was terrifying. I am so glad that my parents knew how to properly extinguish the fire. It is easy to look back on it now and laugh, but it was situation that could have led to serious injuries or damage to our home.

I received compensation and samples in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.聽
When it comes to the safety of my home and family, it is not a laughing matter and the facts are clear.
- Cooking is the number one cause of home fires and injuries.
- The winter months are the deadliest season for home fires.
- Most fatal home fires happen in homes with no smoke alarm or no working alarm.
- Nearly five聽times as many Americans know the shelf life of a Twinkie than know the recommended operating life of a smoke alarm.
At our house our recipe for safety has a lot to do with awareness. When we tell our kids they can’t, or should’t do something, we always explain to them why. Any kid will push back against rules unless they understand the reason behind them. At our house “because I said so” Doesn’t count. We don’t play near the stove because it is hot and can burn you. We don’t touch knives because they are sharp and can cut you, etc.
My kids are just young toddlers, but we introduced these rules at a very young age in the hope that they will understand how serious their safety is. Kidde has provided these other guidelines and safety tips to help keep your family safe this holiday season. With all of the cooking and baking that happens at our house around the holidays, now is the perfcet time to review these rules.


As a stay at home mom I realize that most of the time I am the one who will be responsible for handling an emergency situation in my house. Having a Kidde Kitchen Fire Extinguisher and Kidde Worry Free Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Alarms in my home give me a little extra help and peace of mind when it comes to keeping my toddlers safe. 聽These rules and guidelines start in the kitchen but reach our entire home. Find out more about their products here.


I would say I have a few things I need to add to my kitchen for safety. Luckily we have had no disasters.
I’ve never thought about a kitchen safety recipe before. This is a great idea to work on. I anyways turn the pot handles in so no one catches them.
these are great safety tips! thank you for sharing 馃檪
We have a TWO fire extinguishers because we had a kitchen fire years ago (not during the holidays) and my husband’s cousin was burned pretty bad. Thanks for the reminders for kitchen safety.
Thanks for the safety rules from Kidde, these would be great to post on the refrigerator.
We have a fire distinguisher just outside our kitchen in the garage, thankfully we have never had to use it.
I have an extinguisher next to the kitchen as well. Better safe then sorry.
I’ve already had a disaster last week, thought I turned a burner off but turned it on high – and it was caramel!! The entire house was full of smoke – the alarms sure do work, I guess that’s one way to find out!
Oh I had a horrible mishap once. My father suffered 3rd degree burns. All my fault. Long story, but we take kitchen safety very seriously now.
I always think it’s important to have a fire extinguisher near the kitchen. Also, to make sure the extinguisher is in date.
Kitchen safety is always important. It is especially important when kids are involved in the cooking.
I love these tips. This statement is rather scary, though, “Nearly five times as many Americans know the shelf life of a Twinkie than know the recommended operating life of a smoke alarm.”
We have a fire extinguisher in our kitchen, but it is 10 years old. I should check it and make sure it is still good, better safe than sorry!
Come to think of it…. my fire extinguisher is in my garage, probably not very useful out there! Thanks for the tips!
We do almost exactly the same thing in our house. We have made sure to teach the kids that the oven is hot and knives are sharp. We don’t play in the kitchen at all. The kids help cook sometimes, but it’s never play time.
Way back in the day when I first started cooking, I actually boiled water and forgot about it. It ruined the pan, and it almost ruined the stove!
I always worry about a fire starting. I do keep an extinguisher handy though!
That is so scary!!! We’ve had that happen to a small degree on our barbecue once. Nowhere near as bad as you describe, but we had to literally pick up the barbecue and move it so it wasn’t near anything because of the flames.
I keep one handy just in case you never know. We have never had a disaster in our kitchen thankfully!
No, thankfully, I have not had a disaster in the kitchen. Though, I do admit, I do have take most of the precautions that you mentioned. Thanks for posting.
While we have a fire extinguisher, the hubs doesn’t think it is enough. he wants a few more throughout the house for safety reasons. I would love to get a few more myself.
As much cooking as I do in my home, you would think I would have a fire extinguisher in there, but I don’t.